{"id":8729,"date":"2024-03-24T16:49:14","date_gmt":"2024-03-24T16:49:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/24\/witnesses-describe-fear-and-deprivation-at-besieged-hospital-in-gaza\/"},"modified":"2024-03-24T16:49:14","modified_gmt":"2024-03-24T16:49:14","slug":"witnesses-describe-fear-and-deprivation-at-besieged-hospital-in-gaza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/24\/witnesses-describe-fear-and-deprivation-at-besieged-hospital-in-gaza\/","title":{"rendered":"Witnesses Describe Fear and Deprivation at Besieged Hospital in Gaza"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1050\" height=\"550\" src=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/03\/24\/multimedia\/24mideast-shifa-01-zjmg\/24mideast-shifa-01-zjmg-facebookJumbo.jpg?resize=1050,550&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Witnesses Describe Fear and Deprivation at Besieged Hospital in Gaza\" title=\"Witnesses Describe Fear and Deprivation at Besieged Hospital in Gaza\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Seven days after Israel\u2019s military began a raid on the Gaza Strip\u2019s largest hospital, Al-Shifa, a picture of the sustained assault on the complex and its surrounding neighborhood emerges in fragments.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Residents nearby described a relentless daily soundtrack of gunshots, airstrikes and explosions. A surgeon spoke of doctors and patients corralled in the emergency ward while Israeli forces took control of the complex outside. A Palestinian teenager who spent four days sheltering in the hospital described the bodies she saw piled up outside the entrance.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThey had put the bodies on the side and thrown blankets over them,\u201d said Alaa Abu Al-Kaaf, 18, who said she and her family were at Al-Shifa for days before leaving on Thursday. It was not immediately clear when or how the bodies were taken there.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Interviews with other witnesses in the hospital, residents in or near the facility and the Gazan authorities in recent days, as well as with <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/video\/world\/middleeast\/100000009375193\/gaza-shifa-hospital-displaced.html\" title=\"\">others who have left the complex over the past week<\/a>, described a situation of fear and deprivation, interrogations and detentions of Palestinian men by Israeli forces, and a persistent lack of food and water.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The assault on Al-Shifa, one of Israel\u2019s <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/03\/21\/world\/middleeast\/israel-al-shifa-hospital-raid-gaza.html\" title=\"\">longest hospital raids<\/a> of the war in Gaza, began on Monday with tanks, bulldozers and airstrikes. The military said it was aimed at senior officials of Hamas, the armed group that led an attack into southern Israel on Oct. 7. Israel began a war on Gaza in response to that assault, with intense aerial bombardments and a ground offensive.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In recent weeks, mediators have redoubled efforts to reach a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas, hosting indirect talks between the two parties in Doha. Qatar, a key mediator, has <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/03\/19\/world\/middleeast\/ceasefire-talks-qatar-barnea.html\" title=\"\">voiced cautious optimism<\/a> but says the talks have yet to see a breakthrough.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Israeli leaders have said that regardless of whether a cease-fire deal is reached, they intend to start a ground operation in the southern city of Rafah to root out Hamas\u2019s remaining forces there. The prospect has prompted international concern for the fate of the over 1 million Palestinians who have crowded into the area seeking shelter.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III recently \u201craised the need to consider alternatives to a major ground operation in Rafah\u201d during a phone call with his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant. Mr. Gallant is traveling to Washington on Sunday to meet with Mr. Austin and other top U.S. officials, his office said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The raid on Al-Shifa has also focused international attention on the dire situation faced by hospitals and the patients sheltering there, according to local authorities. Many of the <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/03\/18\/world\/middleeast\/gaza-famine-israel-hamas.html?searchResultPosition=4\" title=\"\">30,000 Palestinians<\/a> whom the Gaza Health Ministry said had been sheltering at Al-Shifa were displaced once again by the raid.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Gazan authorities said that at least 13 patients had died as a result of the raid because they were deprived of medicine and treatment, or when their ventilators stopped working after the Israelis cut the electricity. Those claims could not be verified.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Gaza Health Ministry said on Saturday that patients still in Al-Shifa were in critical condition, with maggots beginning to infect wounds.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The director general of the World Health Organization, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DrTedros\/status\/1771276290315653372\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">posted a report<\/a> on social media on Friday from a doctor in Al-Shifa, as relayed by a colleague from the United Nations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Two patients on life support died because of a lack of electricity, and there were no medicines or basic medical supplies, he wrote. Many patients in critical condition were lying on the floor.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In one building, 50 medical workers and more than 140 patients have been kept since the second day of the raid, with extremely limited food, water and one nonfunctional toilet, Dr. Tedros wrote.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cHealth workers are worried about their own and their patients\u2019 safety,\u201d <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DrTedros\/status\/1771276290315653372\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Dr. Tedros wrote<\/a>. \u201cThese conditions are utterly inhumane. We call for an immediate end to the siege and appeal for safe access to ensure patients get the care they need.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Dr. Tayseer al-Tanna, 54, a vascular surgeon, said he finally fled Al-Shifa on Thursday after days of hearing gunfire outside the ward where he was positioned. Dr. Al-Tanna said Israeli forces had gathered doctors and patients in the complex\u2019s emergency room while they swept the grounds outside.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThe Israeli military didn\u2019t treat us violently,\u201d Dr. Al-Tanna said. \u201cBut we had almost no food and water\u201d during the incursion, he added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">He declined to comment on whether Palestinian fighters had fortified themselves in the medical complex.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The media office for the territory\u2019s government, which is run by Hamas, said in a statement on Saturday that the Israeli military was threatening the medical staff and people sheltering inside to either leave the hospital \u2014 and risk being interrogated, tortured or executed \u2014 or the military would bomb and destroy the buildings over their heads. The media office said it was in touch with people inside the complex.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Israeli military did not address specific questions about whether it had threatened people inside the medical complex. But on Saturday it said it was operating in the area of the hospital \u201cwhile avoiding harm to civilians, patients, medical teams and medical equipment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The military said it had killed more than 170 fighters in the area of the hospital and detained and questioned more than 800 people.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The New York Times could not verify either the Hamas or Israeli military accounts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Israel has long accused Hamas of using Al-Shifa and other hospitals in Gaza as command centers and of concealing weapons in underground tunnels beneath them, a claim that the armed Palestinian group and hospital administrators have previously denied.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In a statement on Sunday, the Palestinian Red Crescent said that Israeli forces were \u201cbesieging\u201d two more hospitals in the southern city of Khan Younis, Al-Amal and Nasser.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Israeli military was targeting Al-Amal with smoke bombs, and military vehicles were barricading the entrances of the compound, the Red Crescent said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Palestinian Authority\u2019s foreign ministry said an Israeli assault on Nasser Hospital had been \u201cviolent and bloody\u201d and accused the military of trying to incapacitate all the hospitals in Gaza.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Israeli military said in a statement on Sunday that it had started an operation in the Al-Amal neighborhood of Khan Younis overnight. When asked whether Israeli troops were currently encircling Al-Amal and Nasser Hospitals, the military said it was \u201coperating in the entire Al Amal area\u201d and \u201cnot currently operating in the hospitals.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In statements regarding the Al-Shifa raid, Hamas confirmed that its fighters were engaged in clashes with Israeli forces near the hospital. In one statement on Saturday, Hamas said members of its Qassam Brigades had fired mortar shells at Israeli forces near Al-Shifa.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Ms. Al-Kaaf and other Palestinians who have left the complex over the past week also described scenes in which groups of men were <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/01\/23\/world\/middleeast\/israel-gaza-palestinian-detainees.html\" title=\"\">detained<\/a>, stripped and questioned by Israeli soldiers. Women and children were separated from the men, Ms. Al-Kaaf said, and others \u2014 including members of the hospital\u2019s medical staff, doctors and nurses \u2014 were kept in a large pit, sitting on the ground. Some were blindfolded and handcuffed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Israeli military said \u201cindividuals suspected of involvement in terrorist activity\u201d were being detained and questioned in accordance with international law and released if \u201cfound not to be taking part in terrorist activities.\u201d It added: \u201cIt is often necessary for terror suspects to hand over their clothes such that their clothes can be searched and to ensure that they are not concealing explosive vests or other weaponry.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">For those in the Al-Rimal neighborhood, which surrounds Al-Shifa, the siege on the hospital has trapped residents in their homes. Several said snipers had been shooting into the surrounding streets; residents were fearful they could be dragged from their homes by Israeli forces, stripped and interrogated, as they said dozens had been over the past week.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThe situation is really bad,\u201d said Mohammed Haddad, 25, who lives about a half-mile from the hospital. \u201cFor more than five days, we haven\u2019t been able to go out and move around. We haven\u2019t been able to get water, get food. And it\u2019s Ramadan,\u201d he said, referring to the Muslim holy month of fasting.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Airstrikes and random cannon fire have hit multiple homes in the immediate neighborhood, demolishing them, Mr. Haddad said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThere are snipers, shelling, surveillance drones and armed drones,\u201d he added, the buzzing of a drone audible as he spoke on the phone.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Israeli forces appeared to be destroying the entire area, he said, \u201cnot just the hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-798hid etfikam0\">Rawan Sheikh Ahmad<!-- --> and <!-- -->Aaron Boxerman<!-- --> contributed reporting.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Seven days after Israel\u2019s military began a raid on the Gaza Strip\u2019s largest hospital, Al-Shifa, a picture of the sustained assault on the complex and its surrounding neighborhood emerges in fragments. Residents nearby described a relentless daily soundtrack of gunshots, airstrikes and explosions. A surgeon spoke of doctors and patients corralled in the emergency ward [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8730,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/03\/24\/multimedia\/24mideast-shifa-01-zjmg\/24mideast-shifa-01-zjmg-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[8769,13537,13536,3146,43,180,8733],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8729"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8729"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8729\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8731,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8729\/revisions\/8731"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8730"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}